Just Keep Digging
by Alexannah
Summary: Lila makes a big mistake when showing off one day to the class. But her mistake may turn out to be not such a bad thing for Marinette and Adrien. [NOW MULTI CHAPTER!]
1. Just Keep Digging

**Canon/Spoilers:** Post-Chameleon (season three); spoilers for Chameleon, The Collector, Gorizilla, Volpina and The Bubbler. AU as of Kwami Buster because … well, you'll see.

**AN:** From a Tumblr prompt by countingdowndays. And then it just kept going …

* * *

**Just Keep Digging**

_By Alexannah_

"Your turn, Adrien," Alya said. "Favourite movie?"

It was breaktime, but raining so hard outside that the sky was almost black. Since the gym was currently occupied by people setting up for an event that evening, all the pupils of François Dupont High School were confined to the other indoor communal areas. Marinette and the rest of her class were in the Literature room, playing an icebreaker game that Miss Bustier had left on her desk.

"_Solitude_," he said immediately, a weird smile on his face. The name rang a bell with Marinette, but she couldn't think why.

There was a slight pause. "Er … I haven't heard of that one," Alya said, sounding really surprised that she didn't know something.

"No, it's really rare," Adrien replied.

"Okay … what about it do you like?"

"The lead actress was _so_ good in it. Really amazing. You could really believe she _was_ the character Maria." He still had a strange smile on his face, a kind of misty expression in his eyes. For a moment Marinette almost wondered if he had a crush on the actress, but decided it wasn't something romantic at all. She couldn't figure out _what_ it was.

"Oh, I've seen that," Lila spoke up. "She _is_ good, isn't she?"

Marinette gritted her teeth as Adrien just nodded distantly.

"And she's awesome in real life too. Such a lovely person. I've met her lots of times."

Adrien stiffened, but no-one else seemed to notice. Marinette hadn't seen him do that before when Lila lied; he usually just sort of sighed and ignored it—

Then she finally remembered why the name of the movie sounded familiar, and her mouth fell open.

_Oh__, no! She doesn't get to do this! Not his __mom__! I'm not letting her—_

She hadn't even been aware of rising from her seat in fury, opening her mouth to shut Lila up, but Adrien suddenly touched her arm and shot her a look that clearly said _Don't_.

It took all Marinette's willpower to restrain her protective instincts that wanted to just slam Lila's lying head into a brick wall.

Lila prattled on obliviously. "… we met a few years ago, and instantly bonded."

Adrien nodded a little, flooring Marinette. Wait, he wasn't going to correct her?

"… why, only last week, we had coffee together …"

Marinette ground her teeth, trying _so_ hard to contain her fury, her hands clenched so tightly together her nails were really hurting her palms. Alya kept giving her worried looks.

"Did you, really?" Adrien interrupted. His tone was slightly questioning, but not in a doubtful way—more like he was just having a little trouble comprehending what a good opportunity had come his way. "Last week, you say?"

_How does he __do__ that?_

"Oh, yes! She's so nice."

"Uh-huh." He paused for a moment. "What's her name?"

Lila blinked, slightly wrong-footed, and everyone else looked puzzled. "E-er … well, between you and me, she goes by … Maria; you know, after the character she played. Because it was her favourite role."

It would have been a good save, under any other circumstances.

"I meant her real name." Finally a little hardness had crept into Adrien's tone, which seemed to confuse the others. "You must know that, if you've met her so much."

"Um …" Beads of sweat appeared across Lila's forehead. "Well, right from the beginning, she asked me to call her Maria—"

"So look it up," he said, now distinctively coldly.

"Er, dude?" Nino asked curiously. "Something wrong?"

Lila fumbled for her phone.

Adrien repeated the film title and the year it was made, surprisingly calmly.

Despite how (albeit unintentionally) hurtful and horrible Lila's lies had been this time, Marinette could not help feeling a very smug satisfaction as Lila clearly found the right webpage. All the colour drained from her face.

"E-er …" she stammered.

"Yes?" Adrien pressed.

"It's … Emilie," she said hesitantly.

"Surname?" he demanded.

She gulped. "A-Agreste."

Everyone else gasped, and a stunned silence fell.

"So where exactly did you meet my mom last week?" Adrien said clearly, folding his arms. "I'd be very interested to know, especially since no-one else, including _me_, has seen her in nearly a year."

Their classmates all turned to stare at Lila, who was now growing steadily more scarlet in the face.

"You know, Lila, after I saw Ladybug deny she had ever even met you, I could have told everyone you were a liar. But I didn't, because I made the mistake of not thinking it was worth it. I didn't want to expose you as a liar, because I don't like hurting people. But what you just did was _not_ cool, and I really wish now I'd told the truth earlier."

"A-Adrien, I'm so sorry! I didn't know—"

"That's not the point. Your lies can hurt people, whether you mean them to or not, and—I wish I'd realised that sooner. I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth unless it's honest."

The silence that followed in the classroom was astronomical. Adrien took a deep breath and turned around. "Marinette, I'm really sorry."

"_You're_ not the one who has to apologise, Adrien," Marinette replied, giving Lila a filthy look.

"I mean for not coming forward and backing you up before. Everyone's been giving you such a hard time because you didn't buy her tall tales; I should have said something. I wish I had earlier."

"Y-you were right about her," Alya stammered. "I'm sorry too, Marinette; I really just thought you were just jea—I mean … I should have trusted you."

The others started falling over themselves to apologise for not believing her too, everyone speaking at once. Marinette got the gist, however.

"It's okay, everyone. I forgive you. I know it looked like I was just paranoid. She was good."

"How _did_ you know she was lying, anyway?" Alya asked.

Marinette flashed back to the time Alya had asked her that recently, remembering that when she had started to reply, she had become flustered out of fear of revealing she was Ladybug. But Adrien's admitting to what he had witnessed between Ladybug and Lila had just given her an idea.

"I was actually in the park that day." She turned to look at Adrien. "When you and Lila were together, and then Ladybug turned up?"

"Oh."

"I didn't want to say anything, since it was that incident which turned her into Volpina. But now everyone knows about it anyway …"

"You were really there?" Adrien asked, sounding confused.

Marinette could practically hear Alya thinking _Yeah, totally spying on you, dude,_ behind her smirk.

"Y-yeah. I, er …" Marinette quickly searched for an explanation that was less humiliating than admitting she had gone all green-eyed monster, and remembered the other reason why she had been there. "I saw you two in the library earlier, just when she stole your book."

Adrien's eyes widened. "Wait, what?" He turned quickly to Lila.

"I followed her, intending to confront her about it. I saw her looking at it, then go into a jewellery store and come out again with that necklace she passed off as a Miraculous." Which was the truth.

"Which she then used to try and make me believe she was really descended from a superhero," Adrien said slowly.

"Wow, Lila," Alya said, sounding disgusted. "Marinette was right; _everything_ that comes out your mouth is a big fat lie."

Lila burst into tears, but Marinette was not in the least bit sympathetic. Nor, it seemed, was anyone else.

"Wait—so _you_ took my father's book?" Adrien said suddenly, looking back at Lila. "The one I was grounded for losing?"

_Uh-oh_. Marinette realised the great flaw in her plan. Yes, Lila _had_ taken it, but then _Marinette_ had stolen it from her …

"Uh …" Lila stammered.

"Does that mean—you're the one who—"

"_I'm sorry!_" she wailed. "I'll—I'll tell him it was me, okay? I just panicked when I saw you coming and dropped it in the bin—"

"_What?_"

Marinette mentally facepalmed. She had really dug herself in deep this time.

"I'll buy him another copy!" Lila cried.

"It's one of a kind," Adrien said, staring at her in complete confusion. "And he said one of my friends had found and returned it."

There was a slight pause, then all heads turned to Marinette, who flushed deeply.

"I saw her drop it in the bin, so when you were gone I retrieved it," she said awkwardly.

Adrien frowned. "Why didn't you just give it back to me?"

"Um …" _Because my Kwami made me show it to the Guardian of the Miraculous, who said he thought Hawk Moth owned it, so then I thought you might be a supervillain, and then I suspected your dad, and then after he was akumatized Cat Noir and I concluded it couldn't have been him, so I went back to Master Fu, who took a photograph of every page before I gave it back to your dad._

But she could hardly say all of that.

"… I got distracted looking through it?" she tried desperately. "It was very cool, all those pictures of superheroes. And … when I heard you got in trouble for it, I went to return it; but on the way I saw on the news your dad had been akumatized, so I thought I should probably wait until Ladybug and Cat Noir had sorted him out."

Adrien was now looking at her very strangely, and she wasn't sure she could read his expression anymore. Her lie had been plausible, right?

"Well, this has been interesting," Nino said, breaking the now really awkward silence. "What are we going to do about _her?_"

They all looked back at the red-faced Lila.

"Nothing," Adrien said finally. "Knowing we all _know_ she's a liar is punishment enough."

Apparently unable to handle the glares from them all anymore, Lila scrambled to her feet and fled the classroom. Marinette wondered if she would find another way of avoiding school for months, and hoped she would.

For a few moments no-one spoke. Adrien finally mumbled an excuse and left the classroom. Marinette was just wondering whether or not to follow him, to make sure he was okay, when Alya grabbed her arm.

"So … you knew Lila was talking about Adrien's mom, right?"

Marinette nodded. "Um, you remember the day Adrien and I were pursued through Paris by his adoring fans …"

Alya giggled, nodding.

"Well, he had snuck out to see that movie. We only managed to make it through the first few seconds, however, before the fan mob caught up with us. And then his bodyguard was akumatized, and things got kind of chaotic from there."

While the girls who had been following Marinette and Adrien's internet trail that day all giggled, she looked back at the closing door, and made her decision. "I'll be right back. I just want to check on Adrien."

She received an _I'm sure you do_ smirk from Alya, and knowing grins from everyone else.

It took a while to find him, but finally she came across him sitting on a bench in the locker room. He was hunched over, muttering something apparently to himself, looking quite lost and sad.

"Adrien?"

He jumped and looked up. "Oh—Marinette."

"Are you okay?" She sat down next to him, and after a moment's hesitation put her arm around his shoulders. He tensed slightly, and she wondered if she'd made a mistake, but after a second he relaxed, and even leaned towards her slightly.

"Not particularly. I'm _really_ sorry, Marinette."

"It's not your fault. I know you just wanted to take the high road."

He nodded. "I did. But it wasn't the right decision. I realise that now. I wish it hadn't taken _that_ for me to see her lies could be really hurtful. If I hadn't known she was a liar already … I could have actually have believed her for a moment."

"I don't think you're that gullible, Adrien. Um, not that I'm saying everyone else is gullible. But knowing what you knew about your mom … I don't think you would have fallen for that."

"I've spent the last year _wanting_ to believe my mom's out there somewhere. If I _had_ been taken in, even for a moment …" His voice cracked.

"Realising it was a lie would have been unspeakably horrible," Marinette supplied quietly.

Adrien nodded, closing his eyes. "I … suppose I owe Ladybug one for exposing her."

Marinette felt the safest thing to say at this point was "Mm."

He rubbed his eyes—Marinette wondered if he was wiping away unshed tears—and sat up straighter, opening them. She reluctantly withdrew her arm from his shoulders, sensing now was the moment to do so.

"Speaking of Ladybug … Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Marinette said immediately, hoping desperately it wasn't going to be something awkward for her to answer.

"Well … when my father became The Collector …" Adrien hesitated. "I … heard that Ladybug and Cat Noir actually showed up at my house _before_ they knew he had been akumatized," he said very slowly.

"Th-they did?"

"Yeah." Adrien's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at her. "I never really thought about the timing, but … now you mention it … my father _did_ have a book on superheroes …"

"Um, so?"

"I was just wondering if maybe … Ladybug somehow knew about the book?"

Marinette gulped. "Um, maybe you could ask her?"

There was a long pause while he gave her a hard look.

"I think I am."

_NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! He can't mean—he can't know I'm Ladybug!_ Marinette panicked.

"Wh-what, you mean _me?_" she squeaked, not sounding very convincing to her own ears. "_Me_, be _Ladybug?_ Only in my dreams! Um, I mean … Of course I'm not Ladybug! I'm a total klutz!"

"True," he agreed, and Marinette wasn't sure she liked his agreement. "A very endearing klutz," he added with a small smile, and she felt a little better. "But maybe magic superhero powers can make people seem … different? Ladybug could be really clumsy in normal life." He paused. "Cat Noir could be a really shy insecure guy who has trouble standing up to people."

"Cat Noir, _shy?_ Pfft, yeah right—um," Marinette added quickly, "I mean … it doesn't seem very likely to me."

"Right," he said slowly. "So if I were to tell you I have reason to believe Ladybug and Cat Noir came to my house because they suspected my father might be Hawk Moth …?"

Marinette's eyes widened.

_Wait. How does he know that? Neither of us saw him that day! And we never said anything about that to anyone else in the house—_

"Th-they thought your dad was Hawk Moth?" she stammered. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Though obviously he wasn't. But that's why they were there. I think."

He seemed to be waiting for something, but Marinette wasn't sure what reaction he was expecting.

"Well … that's good," she tried. "I mean, it's bad they still don't know who Hawk Moth is—as far as we know, anyway—but a good thing for you it's not your dad. I'm very glad it's not your dad." And that was the truth. At the time she had been so relieved that _Adrien_ was not Hawk Moth, she hadn't given much thought as to how bad his _father_ being a supervillain would be for him. It hardly bore thinking about. She couldn't express how relieved she had been later, once the thought had occurred, that they had ruled him out.

"Thanks. Me too." He hesitated again. "So … did you happen to show that book to anyone? Anyone who might have thought that, because my father owned a book all about Miraculouses …?"

Marinette swore in her head. He was onto her, she knew it. If she said 'no', he would only have _more_ reason to believe she was Ladybug. But if he said 'yes', he might ask who she had shown it to, and think _that_ person was Ladybug! And then what would she say?

She tried deflecting the question. "Are you _sure_ that's what Ladybug and Cat Noir were doing there? Maybe they have some way of sensing when someone is akumatized. Or about to be akumatized."

"They don't," he said shortly, with a little too much conviction for her liking. "I-I mean … if they did, wouldn't they have been on the scene much quicker with all the other villains?"

"Well, maybe they were at your house for another reason. Maybe they're fashion fans?" It sounded like a really lame reason even to her. Even if she knew that it was true for Ladybug at least.

"Or maybe _you_ are Ladybug and you're just trying to make me think you're not."

_Shoot._

Adrien leaned towards her slightly. "What if I promised you," he said quietly, taking her hand in his, "that I can keep a secret?"

Marinette was finding it really hard not to get completely flustered by the fact _he was holding her hand!_ "I-I'm not Ladybug!" she squeaked. He raised his eyebrows. "A-and aren't superheroes n-not supposed to tell _anyone_ who they are?"

"And how would you know that if you weren't one?" he said, his tone slightly teasing.

"You know I'm best friends with Ladybug and Cat Noir's biggest fan, right?"

"Yeah, I know." A light seemed to come on in Adrien's eyes. "A big fan who has managed to get the elusive Ladybug to personally appear on her blog voluntarily more times than any other media outlet."

"S-so? Lots of people like the Ladyblog! It's not strange that Ladybug likes it too! She obviously has good taste."

Adrien seemed to consider that. "Maybe not perfect taste. After all, from what I can see, she isn't into Cat Noir."

"Maybe she prefers a different kind of boy to the one that's always showing off," Marinette said before she could stop herself.

Adrien raised his eyebrows. "Oh, yeah? What kind of boy would that be?"

"I-I don't know … someone like you?" she blurted, then groaned and buried her head in her hands. _I cannot believe I just said that!_

There was a long silence.

_Why isn't he saying anything? Does he know I like him? Argh! And I thought him figuring out I was Ladybug was bad!_

_Okay, that's bad too. But if he doesn't feel the same way, this will be completely humiliating!_

"Marinette?"

She couldn't look up. Couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. His gorgeous green eyes.

"Marinette … do you _like_ me?"

"Um …" She tried to gather her thoughts before finally looking up. "Of course! I mean … we're friends, of course I like you!"

She couldn't read the look in his eyes, but was sure he wasn't buying it. However, he didn't appear to have been completely repulsed by the thought of her _liking_ him, so that was something.

In fact, he seemed to have moved closer to her without her noticing. They were only centimetres apart.

"I meant as more than a friend," he said gently. He sounded … _hopeful?_

Hopeful was good. Hopeful meant … he _did_ like her too?

Marinette swallowed nervously. "U-um … m-maybe?" she said, feeling herself go scarlet.

There was a pause. "So … if I told you I had a crush on Ladybug …"

_WHAT?_

"… would it bother you, or make you happy?" he said, a smile playing on his lips.

Marinette's first thought was he was messing with her, trying to gauge whether she really _was_ Ladybug. But Adrien wasn't like that! He wouldn't toy with her feelings, especially not just to find out her secret. Did that mean he really _did_ have a crush on Ladybug?

There were three ways she could play this. She could pretend to be disappointed … then go and see him later transformed, tell him that Marinette had told her he liked her …

_Right. Like he wouldn't see through that instantly. And even if he doesn't, that leaves me possibly dating him as a superhero, which would not really be good for his safety once people found out!_

The second way would be to quickly deny she had feelings for him after all, and just … not be with him. At all. Ever. This option did not appeal in the least.

That just left being honest.

"Adrien …" she said faintly.

He gently cupped her cheek with his hand, and she felt like she was going to faint. "For the record, I think I've figured out how to tell when you're lying."

Well, that sold it. If she couldn't get out of this him-suspecting-she-was-Ladybug thing, what was the point in trying?

"You can't tell _anyone_."

His face lit up, and it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. "You _are_ Ladybug. I knew it!"

"D-did you really mean it when you said … y-you had a crush—"

"You already know the answer to _that_ question," he said, then very deliberately, "_milady_."

"I think Cat Noir wouldn't like you calling me that."

He grinned. "You really think so? Bugaboo?"

_Did he just—_

For a moment Marinette was startled, then remembered Cat Noir had called her that plenty of times in public and on air.

"Very funny."

He frowned slightly. "Er … what?"

"Um, I don't know if you realise this, but he's … kind of got a crush on me too. It's not just playful flirting. So out of respect for his feelings … perhaps calling me what he calls me is not the best idea?"

To her astonishment, Adrien burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Marinette demanded, face heating up again. Oh goodness, had this all been some kind of joke? Had he been teasing her all along? She turned away, hiding her face again, completely mortified.

"Marinette! Sorry, I didn't mean—I just thought you'd have figured it out by now. You're the smart one, after all."

"You—what? Figure what out?"

"Well for starters, how I knew Ladybug and Cat Noir thought my father might be Hawk Moth." Her head shot up. "And," he added, "why … I suggested Cat Noir might be … a bit different when he's not being Cat Noir."

Marinette stared at him, numb in disbelief, as what he had said slowly sank in.

Adrien hesitantly leaned in even closer. "With your permission, milady?" he whispered.

She responded with an unintelligible noise which he apparently took for an affirmative. Adrien closed his eyes and kissed her.

It was the best moment of her entire life.

When they parted, Marinette slid off the bench in a dead faint.

**To Be Continued ...**

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**Author's Notes:** This WAS a one-shot, but now has multiple chapters!

This had not been meant to turn into a reveal fic! When the subject of Lila's lies about Ladybug came up, I couldn't resist bringing up the book, and then Adrien putting two and two together … Three times during writing this, I found I kept going beyond where I had planned to end it. But I'm very happy with the result! My first (posted) reveal fic.


	2. Just Keep Talking

**Author's Notes:** This was going to be a sequel one-shot, but it ended up on a cliffhanger, so I decided to turn it into a chapter fic instead. Also the "second chapter" got so long I've divided it into two. There will be two or possibly three more chapters. Or … possibly more. I'm improvising this fic, so …

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**Chapter Two: Just Keep Talking**

"Marinette? _Marinette!_" Someone gently tapped her cheek. "Marinette?"

"Uh …"

Marinette's eyes flickered open, and she was met with a sight she wanted to imprint in her memory forever: Adrien's face looking down at her, at first frowning slightly in concern, then smiling in relief and affection.

"Hi," Marinette said dreamily.

He giggled. "Need a hand, milady?"

She blinked, and the recent memories, for a moment lost in a haze, flooded back. And it really, really hit her.

_Adrien is Cat Noir._

He held out a hand. Marinette took it, and he gently pulled her up into a sitting position, him kneeling in front of her. Marinette blinked and looked around. "Er … why am I on the floor?"

"You fainted after I kissed you," Adrien said, still grinning.

"I _fainted?_" Marinette felt herself turning scarlet and hid her face in her hands. As if not being able to form a coherent sentence around him wasn't enough of an embarrassment!

"Maybe I shouldn't do it again," he said, humour in his tone. "I wouldn't want you carted off in an ambulance."

Marinette gave him the _look_ she gave Cat Noir when he made a ridiculous suggestion, and he laughed. "I'll be better prepared next time," she said in as dignified tone she could muster, folding her arms to make the point.

"Next time, huh?" Adrien said, raising an eyebrow.

_How_ had she never noticed the Cat Noir in him before? This was his classic flirting tone. Then again, she'd never seen _Adrien_ flirt with anyone.

_Because he was in love with Ladybug._

She was having trouble getting it all straight in her head. Cat Noir loved Ladybug. She loved Adrien. Adrien _was_ Cat Noir. She _was_ Ladybug.

_So all this freaking time …!_

"We're idiots," she blurted out, and Adrien looked surprised. "I mean, _I'm_ an idiot. Well, maybe both of us anyway, but you're the one who figured it all out, so that makes me the bigger idiot!"

"Um … thanks? Marinette, you didn't bang your head when you fainted, did you?"

"No! I mean … I was just thinking that … all this time, when you've been Cat Noir, and I've been Ladybug, and … and neither of us had any idea we were both chasing the other!"

"You were _chasing_ me? I never noticed—"

It was Marinette's turn to giggle. "You remember all those times when I tried to talk to you and all I could say was gibberish?"

"… Yeah …"

"Well, a lot of that was me attempting to ask you out. And epically failing."

"Oh." Adrien considered. "Well … maybe it's a good thing you never managed. Because I'd … probably have done what you did. The whole I'm-in-love-with-someone-else thing … I know how hard that is to hear."

_Yikes._ Marinette couldn't believe she had said that to _Adrien!_ About _himself!_ This was so complicated.

"So does knowing who I am now make it easier to talk to me, or harder?"

"Um …" Marinette stared at him thoughtfully. "A lot more confusing. That's all I've got so far."

"Okay, I get that." He looked down, apparently suddenly realising he was still kneeling on the floor, then held out his hand again. She took it, and he got to his feet, helping her up.

"So …" Adrien came over slightly awkward, and it was _very_ endearing. And _weird_ now she knew he was Cat Noir. "Now what?"

"Just kiss again already!"

They both jumped, and looked around. Tikki and Plagg were both perched on the bench watching them. Tikki had her paw over Plagg's mouth, but a little too late. She gave them a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that!"

"Do you two mind?" Adrien said, folding his arms. "You're just going to sit there watching? I could get you both some popcorn!"

"Ooh, yes please!" Tikki exclaimed.

"Not seriously!"

"You two knew _this whole time_, didn't you?" Marinette said with a sigh.

"Not the _whole_ time," Tikki said, removing her paw from Plagg's mouth. "Just since you both de-transformed when Dark Owl had you both trapped."

Of course. Their Kwamis must have found the months since then with her and Adrien/Cat Noir dancing around each other highly entertaining. Or perhaps extremely frustrating. Or both.

"Well if you _don't_ mind, we'd kind of like some privacy?"

"Spoilsport," Plagg pouted.

"What happened to finding romantic stuff 'bleurgh'?" Adrien said to him.

"I'll have you know I'm a deeply complex personality," Plagg said huffily.

"He means he pretends to be grossed out but deep down he's a romantic," Tikki said smugly.

"I am not!"

"He's also in denial about it. Come on, you," she said, giving the other Kwami a push. "Let's give them a moment."

"_Thank_ you," Marinette said.

"And no peeking!" Adrien added as the two flew into a nearby locker.

"We wouldn't dream of it!" Plagg called back.

"Right." Adrien turned back to Marinette. "Er … where were we?"

Marinette couldn't be sure what went through her head at that moment, but she felt an intense urge to just jump ahead of the awkwardness and take the plunge.

So she stepped closer to Adrien, leaned in and kissed him.

He kissed back immediately, taking her left hand in his and looping his other arm around her waist. She placed her free arm around his shoulders.

Fortunately she didn't faint this time, but the explosion of emotion was still almost overwhelming. No longer in shock as she had been before, this time she was fully aware of what was happening … and who she was kissing.

The boy she'd loved since he gave her his umbrella, despite how mean she'd been to him. Her gentle, compassionate classmate. Her insecure, isolated friend behind the 'famous model' mask. And her flirtatious partner, confident on the outside but not as cocky as she'd used to think. Her brave, loyal kitty who'd taken hits for her time after time. Adrien _and_ Cat Noir. Finally the two clicked together as one in her head and her heart.

He was even more special a person than she'd ever realised, as either Adrien _or_ Cat Noir. She realised that now she knew him far, far better than the sum of both personas.

Was he thinking the same about her?

They gently broke apart, for a moment just staring warmly into the other's eyes.

"Wow. You two are even more adorable than I imagined you'd be."

Both of them jumped and whirled around. Alya was standing in the doorway, grinning broadly with her phone raised.

"_Alya!_" Marinette exclaimed.

"This is _so_ my new screensaver," her best friend replied, lowering her phone and tapping the screen.

"Give me that!"

"Too late, it's online!"

"_What?_" Adrien gasped.

"What?" Marinette looked around at him, feeling hurt. "You didn't want anyone to know about us?"

"No, that's not it—remember, I always told you guys to be careful what you post on my profile or tag me in—" His phone beeped, and he pulled it from his pocket. "And this is why."

"Who's that?"

"My father's assistant, saying I need to tell him I have a girlfriend ASAP."

"Yikes, that was fast," Alya commented.

Marinette's eyes widened. "She said _that?_"

"When I started school, Nathalie tipped me off that, among the many things Father asks her to do outside of her job description, he wanted her to keep an eye on me online."

"You mean stalk you on social media."

"Yeah. Besides, Alya, it would have been nice to be able to tell people _ourselves_," Adrien said as he texted his father's assistant back.

"Sorry," Alya said, looking a bit sheepish. "I guess I got a bit carried away. I've been waiting for this for what feels like eternity. Glad you finally got your eyesight corrected, by the way, Adrien," she added with a wink.

"Huh?"

"I think Alya's referring to the fact that you're just about the only person in the world blind to the fact I had such a huge crush on you I can barely function around you," Marinette said.

"Oh."

"So, um … when, uh, exactly did you come in, Alya?" If she'd overheard any of their conversation …

"About a year ago. Seriously, that was a _long_ kiss."

"I mean, were we already kissing then?" Marinette clarified quickly.

"What? Yes. Why? Ooh, did I miss something interesting beforehand?"

"NO!" they both denied quickly.

Alya quirked an eyebrow. "Now I'm really curious."

Fortunately, at that moment the bell rang, and Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. Now she had time to come up with something to satisfy her friend's journalistic instincts.

"Looks like you'll have to wait a while to interrogate us," she said, slipping her hand into Adrien's, and feeling a thrill of delight as he squeezed hers back. "Lessons call."

The three of them headed back to the classroom, Alya practically bounding in excitement. Marinette herself felt like she was walking on air, and wondered idly if she looked as idiotic as her friend did.

All heads turned as they entered. Some mouths were hanging open; others were grinning.

"They've all seen it, haven't they?" Marinette directed at Alya.

"I might have … accidentally-on-purpose shared it with everyone in my contacts."

"Dude, _about time!_" Nino exclaimed.

"It was really _that_ obvious, huh?" Adrien said, trying to hide the sheepish blush creeping up his cheeks.

Marinette nudged him gently. "Don't feel bad." She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, and heard a delighted squeal from Rose's direction as he blushed deeper. "In the end, _you_ were the clever one, kitty," she whispered in his ear.

He beamed, and Marinette marvelled how she had never recognised the Cat Noir glint in his eyes when he was pleased.

Alya darted into Adrien's seat and grinned at them, so Adrien took hers. Marinette was sure this was a bad idea—she wouldn't be able to take in a _single thing_ the teachers said—but didn't care.

The classroom suddenly went awkwardly silent, and Marinette looked up to see Lila had sidled in, trying to look inconspicuous. It hadn't worked.

Her fingers tightened protectively over Adrien's hand, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Whether anyone would have said anything to her or not, Marinette didn't have the chance to know, as Miss Bustier came in. Lila hurried towards her seat in the back, and Marinette forced herself to look away.

It was a weird feeling, knowing what a horrible thing Lila had done and hating her all the more for it, but at the same time feeling kind of _grateful_. After all, if her lies hadn't been exposed, Marinette might never have had reason to tell Adrien about the book. And then he wouldn't have worked out she was Ladybug. And they might have continued going about their lives obliviously for_ever_.

She tried to put it out of her head, and focus on the lesson as it began. However, her focus was, naturally, completely on Adrien. (Yep, sitting next to him in class was not a good idea at all.) They had to unlink hands in order to write, but kept finding excuses to touch them together again frequently the whole way through. Marinette felt like fainting again every time their knees or elbows brushed each other.

"You and Alya are going to have to switch back," she told Adrien when the bell rang. "I didn't take in a word all lesson."

He grinned. "I agree. I don't think I heard much of what Miss Bustier said either."

Marinette was still distracted the rest of the morning, spending a good deal of it staring dreamily at the back of Adrien's head; but she _was_ able to force herself to concentrate for short bursts of time.

"I'll copy out my notes for you," Alya promised when the bell rang for lunch. "Since you were in dreamland for most of that."

"Thanks," Marinette said gratefully, before tapping Adrien on the shoulder. "So … table for two?"

"I can't stay for lunch; I have to go home and talk with my father." Adrien grimaced slightly.

"You … don't think he'll try and stop us dating, will you?" Marinette asked, biting her lip nervously.

"He would have to literally send me to another planet to succeed. And … I don't know. The subject of me dating has never really come up before."

"Well, good luck."

"I already have it," he said, half-drawing her lucky charm from his pocket and winking. "Everything'll be fine … milady," he added, in an undertone so Alya couldn't hear it.

* * *

"Nathalie said you have something important to talk to me about," Gabriel said as he took his seat at the table and poured himself out a glass of water.

"Yes," Adrien said slowly. Despite his words to Marinette earlier, he _was_ nervous. "Father, I … um … I have a girlfriend."

Maybe he should have waited a moment to say that, since Gabriel choked and almost sprayed water the length of the table. "_What?_"

"A girlfriend. Er, well, technically I guess I haven't _actually_ asked her out yet, but … um … well … I'm going to. And I know she'll say yes, because she admitted this morning she feels the same way about me as I do about her. And we kissed. So … yeah."

_Well done, Adrien. Smooth._

Gabriel was quiet for a moment, a frown fixed on his son. "Who is it?"

If it hadn't been for the need to protect her secret identity, Adrien would have been tempted to reply "Ladybug" just to see his father's reaction. It would be priceless—especially since he knew that Gabriel was a fan.

Not that Gabriel knew he knew. Twice now Adrien had caught him intensely studying news footage of Ladybug and Cat Noir, and his father had quickly stopped when he realised Adrien was there. He had also identified him one of Alya's most dedicated and opinionated Ladyblog subscribers (and, according to her, her most generous donor), based on the way he phrased his frequent comments and the fact that his username was a reference to Gabriel and Emilie's honeymoon. But since Gabriel clearly didn't want Adrien knowing how much of a fan he was, Adrien had made the decision to let him remain in blissful ignorance.

"Marinette," he said instead.

Gabriel rose an eyebrow. "Oh, the girl who won the design competition?"

"That's the one."

"Hmm." He paused. "I want to meet her."

"You're already met her," Adrien pointed out, and his father shot him a look. "Oh … right. Meet her in that context. Okay."

It would be fine, Adrien told himself. Marinette was the most awesome person he had ever met. If anyone could win his stuffy father over, it would be her.

But he couldn't deny he had a bad feeling.

* * *

Marinette straightened quickly in her seat as Adrien came in. He sat down, and turned to face her.

"How'd it go with your dad?" she blurted out anxiously before he had a chance to speak.

"I'm … not sure. He wants to meet you."

"H-he does?" Marinette squeaked.

"Yeah. After school."

"_Today?_"

"There's not much point putting it off." Adrien took her hand. "Don't worry, Marinette; it'll be fine. I know Father is, uh …"

_An overprotective control freak? Cold and stuffy and rude? Someone I frequently want to punch for being such a terrible parent to you?_

"… difficult. But _you_ are the most amazing and likeable person I know." Marinette felt herself flushing deeply. "You're sweet and honest and clever. And if anyone can make a good impression on him, it's you. Plus, he already admires your talent, so you've definitely got a head-start there."

"Th-thanks, Adrien," she managed to get out.

"Also … I realised when I was talking to him that I haven't actually asked you out yet. Properly."

"Shouldn't … you wait until I've met your father?"

"No," Adrien said firmly. "First, because I believe in you; and secondly, even if he _does_ say we can't date, I'm not going to listen."

"Aww," Alya commented from Marinette's left, reminding them both with a start that they weren't alone. "That's so romantic."

"Marinette, would you—"

Ms Mendeleiev cleared her throat. "Adrien, Marinette; if you two wouldn't mind paying attention?"

* * *

There were a thousand reasons why Marinette didn't want to meet Mr Agreste _today_. She wasn't prepared. She had no idea what she was going to say to him, or for that matter what _he_ was going to say to _her_. She would have preferred the opportunity to wash her hair and change into some different clothes. (Not that her wardrobe was likely to be the deciding factor in whether he approved of her or not, but he _was_ a fashion designer; it couldn't hurt!) She wanted time to fully process everything that had changed between her and Adrien in the last few hours before she could talk about it; let alone talk about it in a way that _didn't_ give away their superhero identities!

"Marinette, I promise, it'll be fine," Adrien assured her for the hundredth time, but no amount of his encouragement could get rid of the butterflies in her stomach.

"Please don't promise. You don't know that."

"I promise that no matter what happens today, _we're_ going to be fine." His kissed her cheek. "Okay? That better?"

"Maybe a little," Marinette half-whispered.

"And I also promise to take you to get André's ice cream later. No matter what my father says." Adrien glanced up at the still-dark sky. "Assuming it doesn't start raining again."

"I have an umbrella." Marinette giggled. "_Your_ umbrella, actually."

"My—oh!"

The silver car drew up outside the school, and she saw Nathalie get out, looking around for them.

"We'd better get going. Father's a stickler for punctuality. Well, for everyone except himself," Adrien added as he took her hand again. "Ready?"

"Not in the least. But I don't think I really have a choice."

"Hello, Marinette," Nathalie said.

"Hi, ma'am."

They got in the car, and it drove off in awkward silence. Marinette took her phone out and quickly sent a text to her mother.

_Going over to Adrien's. Explain later. X_

That would probably get her parents theorising. Maybe, if all went well, she could take Adrien back to meet _her_ family. Not that he hadn't already met them as well, but, well, not as an actual boyfriend.

_Boyfriend_. She let out a little sigh, and suddenly noticed Adrien and Nathalie both looking at her.

Marinette grinned sheepishly. "I was just … uh …"

"Me too," Adrien said with a wink, and she blushed with a giggle for the hundredth time that day.

"Which of your friends would you say knows the two of you the best?"

The couple looked around in surprise at Nathalie, who was tapping away on her tablet without looking at them.

"Um, Alya and Nino," Marinette said. "Why?"

"Nino … he was the one who tried to persuade Mr Agreste to let you have a birthday party, wasn't he, Adrien?"

"Yeah," Adrien said slowly.

"Hmm. Perhaps Miss Césaire would be better …" Nathalie murmured to herself.

"What are you up to?" Adrien asked.

For a moment, Marinette thought she wasn't going to answer. "Call it a contingency plan."

He grinned. "Nathalie, you're awesome."

"Thank you, Adrien."

"I don't get it," Marinette said slowly.

"She's got our backs in case Father isn't reasonable," Adrien explained.

"Oh! Um, how?"

"No idea."

"Let's hope it won't be necessary," Nathalie said, still focused on her tablet but with now a small smile on her face.

Marinette wasn't really sure what Mr Agreste's assistant could do to change his mind if he banned Adrien from dating her, but it made her feel slightly better, nonetheless. Only slightly though.

They drove through the gates into the mansion grounds, and Marinette swallowed hard. Adrien got out the car and held the door open.

"One moment," Nathalie said, putting a hand on Marinette's arm. She sounded slightly anxious. "I feel the need to warn you, Marinette; Mr Agreste does not pull any punches when he interrogates people."

Just when she thought she couldn't be any more nervous. "Thanks for the warning."

"But he does hear people out. And … honesty goes a long way with him. Though he might not take it very well at first."

Marinette nodded, making a mental note. "Thanks."

She followed Adrien to the front door, and his bodyguard let them both in.

Mr Agreste was waiting for them at the foot of the stairs, hands behind his back, suddenly appearing even more intimidating than he ever had before. Marinette's legs quivered a little.

"Miss Marinette," he greeted expressionlessly.

"H-hello, Mr Agreste," she stammered.

He looked at his son. "Adrien, please leave us alone."

Marinette nodded to Adrien as he hesitated, trying to convey _I've got this_. If Nathalie thought she should be honest, she would be. And if Mr Agreste didn't like her answers … well, they would find a way to make it work, with or without his approval. They were Ladybug and Cat Noir after all.

Still, it _would_ be better if he was accepting. If for no other reason than to prevent his and Adrien's relationship from getting any more difficult.

For a moment once it was just the two of them Mr Agreste just stared at her, scrutinisingly. Marinette forced herself to meet his eyes confidently, waiting for him to speak.

"So. Out of all the girls who fawn over my son, he's chosen you."

"Yes, he has," Marinette replied.

"Hmm." He paused, his expression still inscrutable. "Why is that?"

Not the first question she had expected, but nevertheless not a difficult one to answer. "Because he loves me."

Saying that sent a pleasant shiver down her spine despite the situation she was in. Marinette could still hardly believe it. Her brain was still reeling from the fact that her partner and the love of her life were one and the same person … and that _he loved her too_. Thinking about it made her giddy, so she tried to focus on the matter at hand. Which was convincing one of the toughest people in Paris to impress that she was good enough for Adrien.

"He is fourteen years old. I'm not sure my son is old enough to be able to distinguish _love_ from teenage infatuation."

"I think you're wrong, Mr Agreste."

His eyebrows rose. "And why is that?"

Marinette took a deep breath, though she had absolutely no idea what was about to come out of her mouth.

"Adrien and I have been friends for months. He's the sweetest, gentlest, most caring person I know. The day we met, there was a misunderstanding when I thought he'd put chewing gum on my chair, and got angry with him; but despite that, he offered me his umbrella. I was a stranger who had been mean to him and all he did was offer kindness. He'd never been to school before or had any friends apart from Chloé, who isn't really the best example of a good friend. But despite that, he is the epitome of what a friend is supposed to be. He's compassionate and he listens and he's kind and generous. If someone he cares about is hurting, he's in just as much pain as them because of it, because he's empathetic and compassionate. And I never had the courage to tell him that I loved him for that."

Marinette was very aware that, rather than trying to make herself look good, she was babbling away about how wonderful _Adrien_ was. But her instincts told her to go with it.

"During the course of our friendship, we've been through some pretty difficult things. And he's always been there for me, always. We've had so many misunderstandings, both thinking the other one had a crush on someone else, and that was why it took until today for him to realise that his feelings for me were returned. But all this time we each considered the other our closest friend."

She kept prattling on, whilst asking herself in her head whether she was going to stop sometime this year. Mr Agreste didn't look in a hurry to stop her.

"Because of the person Adrien is, there are loads of people who would give their right hands to help him out. Like, Nino came to see you about his birthday party even though you're pretty intimidating." Was bringing up Nino a good idea? Too late now. "Because he cares about him. We all care about him and want him to be happy." Marinette suddenly remembered something else that had happened on Adrien's birthday. "Oh, and if you're worried I'll tell him about the scarf, I won't."

Mr Agreste blinked, apparently wrong-footed. "I'm sorry? What scarf?"

"The one I knitted for his birthday. The one he thinks was his gift from you?"

There was an awkward pause as Mr Agreste digested this, and then frowned in the direction of the room Adrien and Nathalie were in.

_Oops. Did I just get his assistant in trouble?_

"I … was not aware of this."

"So you didn't even know what you supposedly got your son for his birthday?" Marinette blurted out before she could stop herself.

He fixed her with a glare, but apparently couldn't form a response.

Part of Marinette wondered if she should shut up now, but her instincts told her not to hesitate. Mr Agreste wanted honesty; fine, she would let him have it.

**To Be Continued …**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Couldn't resist a little nod to Remasa's "Fanboy" fic series. If you haven't read them, and you enjoy Gabriel crack, I insist you do. They are now on your bucket list.


	3. Just Keep Intimidating

**AN:** Okay since this is no longer a one-shot, I discovered (thanks, Keyseeker) that I need to clarify where this fic stands canonically. Most of my fics I actually ignore season three, but obviously I can't do that entirely here since we're post-Chameleon.

So … This fic takes place shortly after Chameleon, and obviously we're now AU because of the reveal, but it takes into account season three up until and including Startrain. (Whether I'll get as far as events in those episodes actually occurring, I have no idea.) However Kwami Buster onwards is NOT taken into account. So no worries about our heroes having to give up their Miraculouses, or future Hawk Moth, or any Cat Blanc stuff. None of that exists here!

And for the record, I'm a fan of Gabriel and Nathalie and a supporter of the redemption arc. Whether this fic will go there or not, I don't know. Still improvising here!

* * *

**Chapter Three: Just Keep Intimidating**

"Do you have any idea how lonely Adrien gets, Mr Agreste?" Marinette blurted out.

Gabriel Agreste blinked at the abrupt change of subject. "I'm sorry?"

"You'd better be. He spends most of his time shut up in this house, not allowed to leave except for school and classes. I get that you want to protect him, but all too often you cross the line between keeping him safe and keeping him a prisoner. He hardly ever complains because he's _used_ to it, it's his norm; but that doesn't mean it's right or best for him. People need social interaction, sir. He hates being so isolated; you may not mean to, but you hurt him so much by doing that to him."

"He told you this?"

"He doesn't have to. We can all see it a mile off. Which makes me wonder why _you_ can't." Marinette paused. "No, actually I _know_ why you can't. Because while you keep him physically close, you keep him emotionally distant. You don't give him any quality time, or make him feel like he can approach you. I understand that you're a busy man, but surely you can spare _some_ time to spend with him, instead of always palming him off on your staff. It would make him feel _so_ much better to at least know you're trying. Instead there's this massive wall between you and it's growing bigger every day. And wrapping him in cotton wool isn't the answer. You know what happens to people when they're wrapped in too much cotton wool, Mr Agreste? They suffocate."

There was a long, long silence once she finally stopped talking, wondering if she had completely blown it. Mr Agreste was still staring at her, no recognisable reaction on his face except extreme surprise.

Finally he broke eye contact, removing his glasses and polishing them. "I see you care deeply for my son," he finally said, quite quietly.

"Yes, I do."

"Hmm. Most of his fans desire him because he's handsome and famous." He replaced his glasses and looked back at Marinette. "But not you."

"I'd love him just as much if no-one had heard of him and he had a face like a gorilla's butt."

Mr Agreste's mouth twitched. "So I assume your intentions towards him are of the … more long-term variety."

"The forever kind of long-term," she agreed. "The 'till death do us part' kind of long-term." For a moment she thought something weird flickered in Mr Agreste's eyes at the 'death do us part' bit, but a second later she was sure she had imagined it. "The 'married with three kids and a hamster' kind of long term."

"I see. And what do you imagine Adrien would be doing, other than helping you look after three kids and a hamster?"

"Whatever makes him happy. Whether that's modelling, or his music, or tap dancing in the street." Marinette tried not to giggle as she remembered him actually doing that as Cat Noir. "I'm sure you have your own grand ideas about what Adrien should do with his life, sir, but he's his own person who deserves to make his own decisions. Even if you think they're the wrong ones. Maybe I don't meet your high standards; maybe none of his friends do. But we all love Adrien and want what's best for him."

Silence fell for a long moment as he gazed at her thoughtfully. "Tell me, does Adrien share your very specific vision of your future?"

"Well, I don't know if he wants the same number of kids and a hamster, but I know he wants to spent the future with me. We should probably work out the details after we've been a couple for more than a few hours."

Again, Mr Agreste's mouth twitched, and Marinette dared wonder if he was actually amused by her words. Whether or not that was a good thing, however, remained to be seen.

"I will allow your relationship with Adrien," he said finally. "But I have conditions."

"So do I," Marinette said before she knew what she was saying.

His eyes widened. "I _beg_ your pardon?"

"I already told you, Mr Agreste, that there are areas of your relationship with Adrien—well, the whole thing, really—that you need to work on." Marinette folded her arms decisively. "So if you really want him to be happy, then I expect you to be willing to do so."

She received a speechless gape in return.

"I expect you to choose presents for Adrien _yourself_ and put thought and care into them. I expect you to make it up to him whenever your work gets in the way of spending time with him. I expect you to find time to actually tell him you love him, because to my knowledge he's never heard that from you. I expect you to consider Adrien's feelings and consult with him when making decisions for his protection or whatever, and if necessary reach a compromise you're both happy with. I expect you to be more open to suggestions from other people who care about him on what's best for him and what he needs to be emotionally healthy. I expect you to _try_, Mr Agreste. I expect you to want to be a better parent and be willing to learn."

It was impossible to work out what he was thinking, but for some reason she couldn't explain, she thought her words might actually be getting through to him.

"And this isn't just about Adrien," Marinette continued boldly. "Assuming that our future progresses as we both hope it does, then one day I guess I'll be your daughter-in-law." The expression on his face was suddenly beyond laughable. "And I may as well make this clear now so there are no surprises in the future, so you can't possibly have any reason to withdraw your approval of us later on."

"I'm listening."

"I expect you to learn not to be such a control freak, so that when he's an adult, you don't make him feel like he has to do everything _you_ want him to rather than what _he_ wants, in order to keep you happy; because that's not healthy—it's not healthy _now_—and you can't regulate his life decisions forever. I expect by the time he and I are married for you to have let go and let him have his own life. Assuming you take on board everything I've said, I'm hopeful the two of you will have a _much_ better relationship by then than you have now; and if, as I think, you really do love him, then I can't see any reason why you wouldn't want that."

"I do love him," Mr Agreste said quietly.

"Good. So we're in agreement."

He still looked a bit stunned, but didn't disagree.

"I haven't finished," Marinette continued. "Our future children." He raised his eyebrows. "I don't expect you to be perfect, but I expect you to make an effort. I expect you to actually have a _relationship_ with them, not be this distant figure they hardly ever see and barely know. You will respect that _Adrien and I_ are their parents, and therefore our decisions are the ones that go; and while we'll be open to advice, at the end of the day _we'll_ be the ones making the decisions we feel are best for them. You will do your very best to be present at _every single_ special occasion; and I won't accept any excuses, only the most valid, out-of-your-control reasons. Every Christmas and birthday, every school play and concert, every fencing meet or whatever interests they end up pursuing, regardless of whether they meet your approval or not. You have been absent from the important things in Adrien's life for _way_ too long and I won't stand for you treating your grandchildren the same way. I want them to have a grandfather they can actually have a good relationship with, someone they will love and look forward to spending time with. And I know Adrien would want that too."

Once again, the room was dead silent once she had finished.

"So what were your conditions, Mr Agreste?" Marinette asked, almost sweetly.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Er …"

* * *

In the next room, Adrien was trying desperately to resist the temptation to listen at the door. His father and Marinette's voices were muffled, so he couldn't work out what they were saying, but they sounded quite heated.

If he were alone, he probably would have listened, but Nathalie was there. While he wasn't entirely sure she would stop him, he didn't want her to mention to Gabriel later that he had overheard whatever was going on in there.

"Thanks for letting me tell him myself," he said finally to break the awkward silence.

Nathalie nodded. "Do you love her, Adrien?"

"Completely and utterly," he said with no hesitation. He thought about adding "I'd die for her," but stopped himself just in time, thinking that might not have the right effect.

Her expression softened. "I very much hope she can win your father over."

"So do I. She's so wonderful; and if anyone can, she can; but … Father's so _stubborn_."

"He is," Nathalie agreed. "And overprotective. But he _does_ have a heart, Adrien."

"He has a funny way of showing it sometimes," Adrien muttered.

Nathalie sighed. "I know."

There was an awkward pause.

"So … how did the two of you …?"

Adrien hesitated, quickly sorting through the memories and censoring the superhero identity stuff in favour of a simpler version of the story. Marinette coming to comfort him after what Lila had said, and him realising she felt the same way about him than he did her … yes, that would do.

"Well, it started with us all talking about our favourite movies …"

* * *

Marinette opened the door, and saw Adrien sitting talking with Nathalie, who looked quite angry for some reason. She quickly schooled her expression to be more neutral as she saw her, and stood up. "How did it go?"

"Er … well, he's happy for us to date."

Adrien beamed. "He is? _Yes!_ I knew you could win him over, Marinette!"

"You sound quite relieved nevertheless," she teased, drawing up to him.

"Well … maybe I _was_ a bit worried," Adrien admitted. "That's not a reflection on you at all, though."

"I know. Anyway, it's all okay. Though he has set some conditions."

Adrien frowned. "Conditions?"

"Nothing bad. Just, you know, sticking to curfew, bodyguard, stuff like that."

"That was an awfully long conversation for just going over ground rules," Nathalie said, in a tone which made Marinette sure she suspected a _lot_ more had been discussed.

"Other subjects may have come up," she said vaguely.

"Oh? Like what?" Adrien asked.

"Well … er … your dad's lousy parenting …"

"_What?_" he gasped, and Nathalie choked.

"You're the one who told me to be honest!" Marinette said to her.

"Sheesh, Marinette, what did you _say_ to him?"

"Basically, everything I and the rest of your friends have wanted to say to him for the last few months."

Adrien groaned. "I can hardly believe you're still breathing! Let alone that he actually _approved_ us dating?"

"Apparently I proved to him that I'm not after you because you're a famous model." She kissed his cheek, and he blushed. _Aw_, she would never get used to that. "And on a completely unrelated note, he's made a resolution to have dinner with you at least four times a week, let you attend at least one social thing a week (three in the holidays), and he's coming to see you in the school talent show next Friday."

_And when you turn fifteen, you're getting a surprise birthday party_, she silently added.

Nathalie raised her eyebrows. "Goodness," she said, sounding very impressed.

"Wow," Adrien said, sounding just as much so. "Marinette, you do realise that apart from my mom, you and Nathalie are the only two people who have _ever_ been able to get my father to change his mind about something like that?"

"Um … no, I didn't." Marinette looked at Nathalie. "Thanks for the tip."

"You're welcome. Oh, Adrien, here's your phone back." She handed him his phone, then looked between them. "Is Marinette staying for a while, or do you two have other plans?"

"Er, I think it might be a good idea to give Mr Agreste some space from me for the rest of the day."

"And we _do_ have other plans," Adrien agreed, taking her hand. "I promised her ice cream at Andre's."

"Ice cream?" Nathalie glanced out of the window. "Are you sure? It looks like it's going to start storming again soon."

"Oh," Adrien said, sounding disappointed.

"We could go to my house instead," Marinette suggested. "Only fair you get to meet _my_ parents now."

"They're not going to interrogate _me_, are they?"

"Not like that. My dad is a very different kind of intimidating."

Adrien raised his eyebrows. "Er, _what_ kind of intimidating?"

"You'll see."

Someone cleared their throat in the doorway, and they all looked over to see Mr Agreste had appeared. "Nathalie, could I have a word?"

Marinette gulped, wondering if this was about Adrien's birthday present.

"I wonder what that's about," Adrien said, frowning slightly after Nathalie had followed her boss from the room.

"Er …" She cast her mind around quickly for a change of subject. "Yeah, um … there's someone else we need to talk to. Master Fu," she said in a low voice.

Adrien paused. "_Oh._ Right. We know our secret identities now … Do you think he'll be upset?"

"I don't know, but whatever his reaction, we shouldn't put it off." Marinette took out her phone and selected the turtle icon in her contacts.

* * *

"I hear congratulations are in order," Nathalie said after closing the door behind her.

"They're dating, not engaged," Gabriel said quickly, though he couldn't help silently adding _yet_. He shook himself and remembered what he had actually intended to talk to her about.

"I think you made the right decision, sir. Marinette seems a sweet girl. And Adrien is clearly absolutely smitten with her."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it goes both ways. She was very …" Gabriel paused, searching for the right word. "… _specific_ about her feelings for him."

"Really?"

He knew from her tone that it was not actually a surprise, and wondered what she had said to Marinette before the meeting. "Yes. Very bluntly honest."

That was putting it mildly. Marinette Dupain-Cheng had let him have it with both barrels. Gabriel thought the last time he had been _that_ intimidated by a teenager, he had been the same age himself. Fortunately he didn't think he had let it show.

"I see. Good for her."

"Yes." He paused. "The thing is, she did bring up something which I should ask you about."

"Oh?"

"I understand that the present she intended to give to Adrien for his birthday, was somehow mistaken for being from me." He arched an eyebrow at Nathalie, whose eyes widened.

"_Oh._ Er … d-did she tell Adrien?"

"No. And she stated she has no plans to do so. Apparently he was delighted to think it was from me, and she doesn't want to disappoint him." Gabriel fixed his assistant with a sharp frown. "I don't suppose you could shed any light on how this misunderstanding occurred, Nathalie?"

She sighed. "On Adrien's birthday, Marinette dropped off a gift for him, shortly before you … asked if I had got him a present from you. I … didn't remember you having asked me to before, and … I panicked."

"You told Adrien that Marinette's scarf was from me."

"Yes, sir."

"Why did you not simply go out and get him something?"

Nathalie fixed Gabriel with a surprisingly hard look. "Because that would have required leaving Adrien to eat lunch alone on his birthday, Mr Agreste. Which I didn't want to do. Nor did I want to have to tell him that his father had either not got him a present, or asked _me_ to and that I had forgotten. I knew any of the above would hurt him." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "And as it happened, because of the Bubbler, he had lunch alone on his birthday anyway."

The accusation was impossible to miss, and a long, very tense silence fell between them.

"I … will not akumatize anyone on Adrien's birthday again," Gabriel finally relented.

"Especially not _friends_ of his who only wanted to do something kind for him," Nathalie added.

"Er … yes. I mean … no, I won't."

Her expression softened slightly. "Marinette really got through to you, didn't she?"

"You put her up to that, didn't you?"

"All I did was advise her to be honest. The rest was all her."

"Well, it worked," Gabriel admitted. "There are some … changes I need to make."

Nathalie nodded slowly, frowning again. "Talking of honesty … did you by any chance sense any negative emotions from Lila Rossi earlier today?"

Gabriel blinked, completely taken aback. "Yes, actually. She's been very emotional for most of the day, but you know I've been tied up with work I couldn't delegate. It's been quite frustrating having to wait; I was planning to seize the opportunity once Marinette had left. How did you know?"

"Adrien told me about something that happened this morning between the two of them. And … well, you're not going to like it …"

* * *

Lila checked her text again.

_We need to talk._

She didn't know why she had come to the meeting place Adrien had specified. What more did he want to say? Adrien was the forgiving type, but she was certain _this_ was beyond even him.

One little miscalculation, and everything had been ruined. Usually Lila planned her stories with care, but from time to time had simply grabbed an opportunity. And now she'd had the horrible misfortune of picking the wrong person to lie about.

_How the hell was I supposed to know she was his mom?_

If she transferred to a new school (Lila was already formulating an argument to present to her mother why it was necessary), then she would be more careful. At the very least do an internet search before opening her mouth.

She turned as she heard the car pull up behind her. The back window rolled down, and her eyes widened in surprise as it revealed not Adrien, but his father.

"Get in, Miss Rossi," Gabriel Agreste said shortly.

She did, hesitating as she realised he was alone in the back. "Where's Adrien?"

"He did not send you that text. You are not the only one with the ability to deceive."

A cold chill went down her spine as the car pulled off, and Lila was suddenly very aware of the fact that no-one knew where she was.

"S-sir? What do you want?"

He didn't look at her, face set in grim determination as he stared straight ahead. "Adrien told Nathalie what you said about his mother."

Lila had guessed he'd found out, but still felt the blood drain from her face. "Sir, I swear, I never meant—I had no idea he was talking about his mom!"

"That is not the point. Your story could have severely hurt him, and the only reason it didn't was because he believes something tragic happened to her." He suddenly fixed Lila with a glare so fierce, she wished he was still looking straight ahead. "I wanted to tell you personally that if you _ever_ do or say anything that could hurt Adrien again, regardless of whether or not you meant it to, you will severely regret it."

Lila waited for the car to stop, but it didn't. She glanced at the driver. It wasn't Adrien's bodyguard as usual; it was the aforementioned secretary. For some reason this felt foreboding.

"Um … wh-where are we going?"

He did not answer her question. "Miss Rossi, your relationship, in any sense, with my son is over. You are not to go near him again. You are not to talk about him or to him, and the same goes for his friends, because when they are hurt so is he. You are toxic and I will not have your poison harming my family."

"I understand, Mr Agreste."

"I'm not sure you do. You have been akumatized … how many times?"

"Er …" Lila said, taken aback at the question.

"Four, as I understand it. And you have a deep hatred of Ladybug which has made you valuable to Hawk Moth."

"I'm not sure I understand—Wait, how do you know?"

"I am very well informed, Miss Rossi. Especially about the people around my son. I want to make one thing absolutely clear. Should you be akumatized again, no matter what Hawk Moth wants of you, _Adrien and his friends are off limits_. You cannot use that as an excuse with me." His eyes sent icy daggers of fear through her. "You will find I can be a _much_ more dangerous enemy than Hawk Moth."

Before she could register the movement, his hand had crept around her throat and started to squeeze.

Lila choked, struggling to draw breath, and grasped weakly at his strong fingers, trying to pull them off. They were immovable. He wasn't blocking her airways, but it _hurt_. She saw Nathalie glance in the mirror but merely look away, showing no sign of mercy.

Mr Agreste finally let go. "Is that absolutely clear?"

"Y-yes, s-sir," Lila gasped, massaging her throat.

"Now you are going to get out, and you are going to tell your parents about every single lie you have told. If I find you have missed _any_ out, I will tell them myself."

They stopped, and Lila saw they were outside her home. She had never been so relieved to be able to get out of a car. She would take being grounded for the rest of her life over spending one more second in that man's company.

"This is your only warning," Gabriel Agreste said darkly, before closing the door again. The car pulled away.

Lila braced herself, and approached her front door.

* * *

"Don't dawdle on the way home," Gabriel said to Nathalie, settling back in his seat, satisfied and in anticipation. "I will not miss this opportunity."

"Of course, Mr Agreste."

He could already feel Lila's anger and frustration, but once her parents found out everything, it was bound to increase. Her next akumatization would be her most powerful form yet.

"Do you think she's afraid enough to leave Adrien alone?" Nathalie asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. "She might have thought you were bluffing."

"She didn't. I can tell." Gabriel looked back at his assistant. "Do you think it was too big a risk?"

"As long as you left no visible mark on her—"

"I didn't." He had been very careful not to.

"—and she's convinced that you really would hurt her if she hurt Adrien again—"

"Which I will. And she is."

"—then no. Even if she tries to tell someone you attacked her, no-one is going to believe her now."

Gabriel nodded. That had been the plan. His Miraculous glowed as Lila's emotions suddenly spiked. "Faster, Nathalie. I mean … Catalyst."

**To Be Continued …**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thanks to phantombullets240 for your idea; it's what turned this into a multi-chapter fic.

I initially drafted the penultimate scene with Gabriel ending his deal with Lila, then remembered it hadn't happened yet in canon. Which is a shame because it would have been so much more tense. But I'm happy with the rewrite.

Part of the scene between Marinette and Gabriel was inspired by a conversation from Monster In Law, but it's been years since I've seen the film so I'm not sure how close it is to the original.

I have a plan for the next chapter, but action isn't my strong point, so it might take a little longer than the others to write!


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